Only a little amount of time is left ahead of the Eid festival. Crowds are now flocking to blacksmiths for biying new knives and sharpening old equipment. On the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, these smithies have been set up in different places of the district including Bogura city. Seasonal traders have been sitting on the side of the road with knives for Eid.
With Eid-ul-Azha approaching, the value of sharp knives, machetes and wooden cants for meat cutting has increased. This time the district's forges are also very busy due to the increasing demands of domestic knives in Bogura.
Knives and machetes of different quality are available for 20 to 1000 taka. However, even though these sharp knives made by China before Covid-19 were in high demand, this time the locals of Bogra are leaning towards locally made knives. After preparing the animals for sacrifice in Bogra, the crowd is increasing in the shops of knives, machetes, and cleavers.
Crowds have been noticed in the forges for various tools. Home-made knives are more common in the Bogura market. Due to the Covid-19 virus, the Chinese-made sharp knives and cleavers are not available in markets. Last year's unsold ones in China are in high demand.
Verities of small knives from tk 20 to tk 70, medium sized knives from Tk 300 to Tk600 are being sold which are being made locally. Blacksmiths are also selling local knives at high price claiming them as Chinese knives. The price of tree trunks has gone up along with the knives.
Small and large tree trunks of different prices are being sold for Tk 200 to Tk600. Home-made thick sheet knives are being sold for Tk 100 to Tk 200.
Liton Rahman, Dablu and Rafiqul, who came to buy knives, said that after buying the sacrificial animal, he came to buy knives and cleavers. They said the price is higher this time.
Meanwhile, the forges are now quite crowded. But blacksmiths say there has been no work in the forge for the past two years because of Covid-19. Banani Hat Gandgram, Madla Kamarpara, Malipara areas of Shajahanpur upazila, famous for their blacksmiths in Bogra, were visited and it is seen that the blacksmiths are now busy. Many are borrowing old equipment from blacksmiths.
Bogra District Livestock Officer Rafiqul Islam Talukder said there are 3 lakh 83 thousand sacrificial animals in the district and 3 lakh 26 thousand are required for sacrifice. As such, there will be a surplus of 48,000 animals this time. About 3 lakh 12 thousand animals were slaughtered in this district last Eid.